


The Pining Forest of Tony Stark

by SmileySunflower



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Happy Ending, M/M, Misunderstandings, Mutal Pining, Oblivious Tony, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-09-26 12:02:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20389390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmileySunflower/pseuds/SmileySunflower
Summary: Tony Stark is not in love with Steve Rogers. No! No siree bub. He is not. Is he? Okay maybe a little. Okay a lot a little. Okay so Tony Stark is madly in love with Steve Rogers but he'll never admit it, and definitely not to Steve's face. Or will he?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first ever fic, or story in general, so I hope I did okay and you all enjoy! 
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or anything associated with it, I am writing purely for enjoyment.

Tony Stark is not in love with Steve Rogers. No! No siree bub. He is not. Okay maybe a little. Okay a lot a little. Okay so Tony Stark is madly in love with Steve Rogers but he'll never admit it. Will he?

"Rhodey!" Oh, sugarplum, I need to talk to you." Tony called from his lab.

Rhodey sighed as he walked into the lab, "What, Tony?"

"What do you mean what?" Tony asked indignantly from where he was seated at his very cluttered (excuse you, organized chaos) work station, with his back to the door. "Can't I want to talk to my very best friend?"

"I have a feeling I already know what you're going to say." Rhodey explained as he leaned up against Tony's work table watching as the engineer calibrated another one of Clint's arrows. 

"Oh, so there are two geniuses is the family now huh?" Tony turned and questioned with a cocky grin. "Careful, honey bear, you know how jealous I can get."

Rhodey huffed out a laugh, moving to stand up and crossing his arms. "No, you ass. I know you're just going to talk about Steve again."

Tony stopped his movements completely and turned to face his friend fully. "Steve? Why the hell would I talk about Rogers?"

"Because he is literally all you talk about, Tones," Rhodey said with a small smile.

"I do not!" Tony sputtered, mouth the open in shock. "That is the most absurd thing I have ever heard! I do not talk about Rogers all the time, only when I'm complaining about him." Tony answered stubbornly, his brow furrowed.

Rhodey gave him a fond, yet exasperated look and said, "Tony, you literally can't stop talking about him. Everyone on the team knows. Well, all except for Steve."

Tony stared at him in disbelief, "I have no idea what you've been drinking Rhodes, but I definitely don't want any of it and that's saying a lot."

"Tony, you're pining so hard for Steve I'm surprised you haven't turned into a forest. It's okay to tell the guy, you know. And we all know that you do and we totally support you. Honestly, you can't tell me you didn't even know you have a crush on him?"

"A crush!" Tony almost shouted and stood completely up, "I do not have some school girl crush on Steve Rogers! I can't stand him! He never listens to me, he talks down to me, he's always telling me what to do and how to do it. Are you kidding me Rhodey? This is a joke, I'm being punked right now aren't I? Alright, bring out the cameras, where are you hiding? Yes, this has all been very funny, now give me the footage before I ruin all of your lives and send you to live in the Sahara Desert."

Rhodey laughed as Tony went around the lab checking every corner and under the tables. "You're not being punked, Tony, no one else is here. It's okay if you didn't realize he like him like that, but I have to say I'm a little surprised with you being a self proclaimed genius and all."

Tony stopped his searching and glared at his long time friend, "Self proclaimed? Oh, I'll show you self proclaimed. Even better, I'll show you my SAT score."

Rhodes erupted into laughter again, "Okay, Tones, don't go changing the subject now, no don't interrupt me," he said with a hand up when the engineer open his mouth to defend himself again, " you say all sorts of nice things about Steve. Jarvis back me up."

The A.I., who had been silent up until now, chimed in as if he had been long awaiting this conversation, "Yes, Sergant Rhodes, it would be my pleasure. Sir, just the other night, you mentioned how Captain Rogers had down a plate of Doctor Banner's homemade curry you so heavily enjoy. You said that was a very nice thing for him to do since you were to busy working to go and get a plate for yourself."

"Okay, but I didn't mean it like that! I only said that because he's smart enough to know if I don't get any of Brucey Bear's curry I'm going to throw a hissy fit. In a manly way." he added when Rhodey snickered.

"Yes, Sir," Jarvis went on, " and then last night you said and I quote, "Steve Rogers is one of the kindest, most selfless people on the planet, and yet people still try to talk bad about him."

"I only said that because those idiots in the news were saying how it was so unusual for a superhero like Captain America to not visit sick people in the hospital. I'm sorry, I thought this was a free country. And who the hell is going to go see random people they don't know at the hospital where they could risk getting sick themselves? I'm sorry, but I have a life and believe it or not, so does Rogers. So no, I was not defending him or saying something nice about him, I was actually defending myself and the rest of the nation as a whole. What can I say? I'm a giver." Tony ended his little speech by plopping back down into ha rolling chair, which only ended with the chair rolling away and Tony landing on his butt on the ground. "Don't even think about laughing," he said frowning up at his friend.

Rhodey laughed lightly and held out a hand, "Okay, Tony, I think I'm going to leave you to it and you can figure this out in your own genius way. Love can be a complicated thing, but you've got everyone here to help you understand it. Just know that it isn't just you, okay? Let me know when you've figured it out." He gave his old friend a genuine smile and patted him on the back before exiting the lab.

Tony stood watching the door Rhodey had just walked out of. Love!? Who said anything about love? Tony does not love Steve Rogers. The man is arrogant, and difficult to work with, and unfairly attractive, and...

Whoa. Okay, his thoughts obviously just wondered someplace else that definitely had nothing to do with the Capsicle.  
Tony needed a drink. Yes, some water will clear his mind and he will forget this conversation he had with Rhodey because obviously his friend is on something.

Tony got himself a glass of water and leaned up against his work station taking a long drink thinking about how nice the water feels going down his throat and then how nice Steve's tongue would...

Tony sputtered and choked on his water. Oh no! No thoughts like that! This is ridiculous, Tony thought, it's all Rhodey's fault. He wouldn't be having these thoughts if Rhodey hadn't been a weirdo going on about how all Tony talks about is the good captain when all Tony had wanted to talk about was...

Steve.

Steve and his amazing abs, and his golden hair, and his perfect face, and how desperately Tony wanted to feel those rock hard abs under one hand, while the other messed up that glorious, soft blond hair, all while Tony kissed the life out of him.

Tony froze, the glass on water falling to the ground, smashing into tiny pieces at his feet.

Oh no!

Oh shit.

Shit.

Shit! Shit! Shit!

Tony Stark is in love with Captain America. Captain freaking America.

How did this happen, Tony wondered to himself desperately, I can't love him! He's Capatain America and I'm Tony Stark, the merchant of death. Fuck!

"Tony," he heard someone call out and turned his body spinning wildly because he knew exactly who that voiced belonged too.

Double fuck. That voiced belonged to none other than Steve Rogers. Steve Rogers who was now standing at the entrance to the lab frowning at the broken glass and giving Tony a concerned look when they finally made eye contact.

"Tony," Steve said, in his wonderfully amazing, manly, and very sexy voice. Shit, brain, stop it! "Are you Okay? What happened? I heard the glass break, but didn't hear anything after so I thought you might be hurt. Are you hurt?" He asked seeming a little more concerned after a few seconds of Tony just standing there gaping at him with his mouth open and eyes wide.

"Uh..." Tony said intelligently, "Hi, Steve," he winced. Good one, Stark, this is like the first time you've used his actual name. Way to be inconspicuous. "I'm fine. Just busy being smart and all." 

Steve seemed to accept the answer and he gave Tony a cheeky smile. He crossed the room to stand directly in front of Tony and crossed his arms. Tony's mouth went instantly dry.

"You know for a genius, you're pretty clumsy." Steve said, still standing so close to Tony he could feel the super soldier's body heat and giving him a playful smile. "I'd have thought you of all people would be able to handle a glass of, what was it, water?"

Tony stared up at him in shock. Why was Steve here, standing so close to him and giving him a smile? "I-uh- I don't know what you're talking about." Tony replied, frozen in his spot under Steve's gaze. 

Steve gave a smile laugh that made him look much happier than Tony had seen him in a while. I made that happen, he realized, which only caused a light blush to spread across his face. Hopefully, Steve wouldn't notice. Of course he did.

"Are you feeling okay, Tony, you look a little flushed." Steve then reached out a hand to place on Tony's cheek as if to check his temperature, but Tony's body gave a little spasm at the last second and he backed away from his leader.

"I'm fine," Tony replied hoarsely, "I need to clean up this broken glass."

"I'll help you-" 

"No!" Tony almost yelled, and Steve gave him a blank look. "I mean thank you, but I can do it." 

Steve considered him for a moment and Tony felt like he was being studied under a microscope. "Okay, well the team is wanting to have game night tonight. We would all like to be for you to be there." 

Steve had said all this with a slight hopefulness in his voice and Tony didn't know how to deal with it. 

"No, I-uh... can't. I'm really busy with..." He looked around until his eyes settled on Clint's arrows. "stuff..."

Steve gave another small laugh and Tony was already addicted to the sound. "I'm sure Clint's arrows can wait considering he has hundreds more that are ready to go. Come on, Tony, take the night off and come enjoy it with us." He titled his head slightly and Tony wanted to melt. 

"Okay." He said weakly. And then almost fainted when Steve gave him a big grin looking so genuinely happy Tony wanted to combust.

"Great! Be in the living room at 6. You'll have fun, Tony, I promise. And be careful with that broken glass. I don't want you to hurt yourself." He gave the genius one last gleaming smile before he walked out of the lab.


	2. Chapter 2

Game night was a newly started tradition by the Avengers. Natasha suggested it and all the guys were to afraid to tell her no. Especially when she was sitting there twirling a knife and looking them all dead in the eyes.

Game night began about six weeks ago and is always on Saturday evenings beginning around 6 o'clock. Tony had only been to three game nights. The first two were fun enough because he always won at Monopoly and absolutely demolished Clint. What can he say? Clint's a birdbrain. Twister was alright the first (and only time) they played it until Thor accidentally touched Natasha's butt with his face. It's safe to say game night ended there. 

The third game night he missed because he was at a conference in Tokyo. He's actually glad he missed that one because Heads Up has never been his strong suit. Tony Stark does not like to lose. 

The fourth one he was there, but Charades with a super solider, a demigod, two master assassins, and a nuclear physicist does not exactly go to plan, especially when the demigod and nuclear physicist are on your team and they can't even guess Iron Man. No, it ends in tears, cuts, and bruises. Just ask Clint. 

The fifth one he avoided all together on purpose. That Saturday morning they had to assemble to take down a giant moth downtown who had somehow managed to get to Earth from Asgard. Rogers had told him to wait so they could formulate a plan of attack. But Tony already had a plan: attack. In his defense, the moth would have destroyed multiple buildings as well and hurt countless civilians. So why wait. He and Thor went in from the top while Clint shot at it from the ground and the situation was handled in less than five minutes. All was good, right?

Wrong. 

After the team had gotten back to the tower and Tony had taken off his Iron Man suit, in stormed Captain America. His face red, fists clenched, jaw locked tight, and his eyes seemed to be lit on fire. "What the hell was that, Stark! Why didn't you wait for my orders?" 

Tony had just rolled his eyes. "There was a situation and Thor, Hawkass, and I handled it. There was no time to it for your-oh-so-magnificent plan. If you didn't notice, lives were at stake and I wasn't going to wait around for you to tell me what I already knew: Stop the moth. And we did." 

That just seemed to anger the captain even more. "No! I'm the team captain and that means that you wait for my orders. You need to stop being so goddamn reckless, Stark. The world doesn't revolve around you."

"Everything was fine-"

"No, everything was not fine! No one got hurt this time, but what about next time? You got lucky, Stark, and one day your luck will run out and you'll wish you'd have waited to hear the plan. You could have gotten hurt, do you realize that? And how does that make me look as the leader if my own team won't follow my orders and then they get hurt?"

Tony's blood went cold. His eyes hardened and his voice biting when he said, "Oh. So that's what this is about. This isn't about me, it's about you and your perfect image. God forbid Captain America look bad!"

Steve responded, eyes and voice just as cold, "You know that's not it so don't try to turn it around on me. This is about you and your refusal to follow my orders."

Tony scoffed. "Well new flash, Golden Boy, I won't ever follow your orders."

What Steve said next had Tony seeing red. "Well then you're off the team. Grow up, Stark. I'm not going to hand everything to you like your dad did. You have to work for what you want, and quite honestly I don't want a child on my team." 

"Get the fuck out of my lab." Tony had turned his back on Steve, refusing to let him see how his words had affected him.

"Fine. Let me know when you're ready to act like an adult." 

Tony waited until he heard the door close and ordered Jarvis to place the lab on lockdown and blackout the see through walls. 

He missed game night that night despite the reminders the team sent him via Jarvis. He couldn't go to game night. And what? Have to sit next to the Capsicle? No thank you. 

That was a week ago and he and the good captain still hadn't talked about what happened. About three days after their blow up, Steve had started speaking to Tony again. All he said was, "pass the salt" but it was a start. Now, Steve had personally requested Tony make to game night. Smiled at him even and said he wouldn't want Tony to get hurt.

All these things ran through the genius's brain as he slowly walked up the stairs to face the six annual Avengers game night.

"What the hell is going on?"he thought to himself as reached the top of the stairs.


	3. Chapter 3

The sixth annual avengers game night was about to commence. Tony was seated next to Steve. Steve, who had seemed so happy when he saw Tony standing at the top of the stairs looking absolutely lost. 

The captain had then pulled him over to sit on the couch: right next to Steve.

Come to think of it, it seemed like Tony and Steve always sat next to each other. They sat next to each other at breakfast, and at team debriefings, and the occasional movie night, and the few game nights Tony had actually made it to. Now they're sitting together again. Because of Steve. Who consciously chose to sit directly next to Tony.

"Okay," Tony thought to himself, "don't read to much into this. You're just over analyzing because Rhodey brought it up, but it's going to be fine."

Then Steve turned and smiled at him and told him he was happy the genius was able to make it. He said it wasn't the same without him there. 

And okay. 

Tony could deal with that.

"Uhhh...." Okay, so maybe not. That seemed to be the only thing he could say around Steve anymore since his revelation. 

"Thanks, Cap." He finally managed to squeak out. A light blush appeared on his cheeks.

Steve continued to look at him and Tony's blush deepened.

"You know, Tony, I've been wanting to talk to you about last week. I know you didn't make it game night and that's my fault. You shouldn't have felt as if you couldn't come because of me, especially when we all love having you here."

Tonys throat had seized up as soon as he realized what Cap wanted to talk about. His heart stopped when he heard the word love. 

"Uh..."

"I want to apologize for what I said, Tony, all of it." Steve looked him directly in the eyes and the other man was pinned under his gaze. "I was wrong. I was angry, and I took that out on you, and I'm sorry."

Tony was finally able to look away and cleared his throat. He dazedly realized he was sweating slightly. Was it hot in here? Well Steve's hot but- "It's fine, Cap, all good. So I guess that means I'm still on the team," he tried to joke, but the determined look on Steve's face didn't falter.

"Of course you're still on the team," his expression finally shifted to one of uncertainly, "I mean it, Tony. I would take it all back if I could. You have to believe that."

He seemed to be pleading now and Tony couldn't handle it. "It's okay, Cap. I forgive you. I'll try to do better to follow your orders."

The captain's gaze softened back into something Tony couldn't place. "The day you start to follow my orders is the day I'll finally drag you down to medical because you've over exhausted yourself." He said this fondly. Fondly. With a little smile, a smile so small it seemed like a secret. Like he was fond of Tony. Like he actually _liked_ Tony. Fuck! He really couldn't deal with this right now.

The engineer had been about to respond when Steve cut him off. "Actually, there was something else I wanted to talk to you about."

The blond ducked his head low and scooted closer to the dark haired man, gazing up at him with those big blue eyes. He looked so innocent and open and honest. Tony was unable to move. 

He then belatedly realized he had thought about those ocean blue eyes more than should. He could go swimming in those eyes.

He swallowed.

"Tony, I know we don't get along sometimes, but-"

"Okay, who's ready for game night?" Clint came barreling in carrying a bunch of board games and Natahsa followed soon after with chips and dip.

Steve sighed. "We'll talk later, okay?" He sent a blinding smile Tony's direction.

Tony wasn't so sure he could deal with much more of this. Had Cap always smiled like that? And how often does he smile in Tony's direction. Fuck. "Sure thing, Cap."

"Great. Tonight lets have fun."

And thus began game night. 


	4. Chapter 4

Scrabble. They were playing Scrabble. Which isn't terrible, it's actually a lot of fun. Tony and Bruce were absolutely creaming the others since they both knew all of the big science terms, like Philoerection and idiopsychology. Clint kept trying to cheat by making up words and Natahsa kept using Russian words and the guys were all to afraid to question whether they were real or not. Thor claimed to be using Asgardian words like Estamafungus and if that was really a thing, Tony didn't want to know. And Cap...well Cap could definitely be doing better. A lot better. Like he's totally losing right now.

Do you know what kind of words Cap uses? Words like: Swell, dame, doll, swingers, geezer...and Tony totally loved it. 

That was something he admired about Steve. He still used that fortys lingo and he had a slight Brooklyn accent when he did. How Tony would love for Steve to call him doll..."Stop it!" He told himself, "Geez, I really have been pining after him this whole time."

This whole time since they started the game, Tony couldn't help but keep sneaking looks over at Steve. The solider didn't seem to catch on though, too consumed in his letters hidden behind the little plaque. He had a look of concentration of his face but in a goofy way. His hair fell down over his forehead slightly whenever he looked down and his muscles were clearly visible thanks to the plain white shirt he was wearing. And he was sitting right next to Tony.

Right next to him. 

Every time it was Steve's turn, he had to lean over Tony to reach the board. His arms brushed Tony's thighs and it took all of what Tony had in him not to react. Not to mention there was plenty of room on the couch, yet they were seated so close together their legs were touching. "I can think of another way for our legs to be touching," Tony thought. "My legs wrapped around his and- "Ahhhh!"

Steve quickly removed his hand from where he had placed it on Tony's thigh with a startled look. "I'm sorry, Tony. I just wanted to tell you it's your turn." 

Tony started at him, eyes wide, a hand on the arch reactor and breathing heavily. Well, that ought to teach him to zone out like that again. "Oh," he said shakily, "right. Yeah, I'll get right on that." He turned and looked down at his options. Huh. He picked up an S and placed it at the end of Clint's last word. Pies. Yeah, that seems good. That's smart right?

Well, from the funny looks the team (except Thor who just thinks it's funny) is giving him maybe not. Natasha's eyes narrowed, assessing him. Her eyes flickered from him to Steve and back to him again. "What?" He asked to quickly and his voice high. Her eyes narrowed even more before widening. She smiled. An evil smile. 

Shit. 

"I'm going to get more chips," he said suddenly, standing up unceremoniously. "Anyone want chips?" 

"Yessss!" Clint moaned dramatically, "Bring some more Doritos. And Ruffles. And Lays. Oh, and some Fritos and Cheetos. You know what? Bring some Pringles and Sun Chips as well. Ow! Hey what was that for?" He whined after Natahsa hit head on the back of the head.

"You're going to get fat, idiot." 

Now was his chance. Tony could sneak into the kitchen and hopefully avoid Natasha. At least for as long as he could. She's persistent when she wants something. He snuck into the kitchen discreetly, listening to Nat and Bruce trying to explain to Clint why he should he eat better. Yeah right. Clint will never eat healthy. He would eat pizza everyday if he could. Tony laughed lightly to himself while he looked at their selection of chips. Yeah, Clint's gonna get real fat if he eats all of these chi-

"What's so funny?" 

Tony spun around to see Steve leaning against the doorway leading back into the living room. He smiled softly at Tony, and the engineer felt that blush from earlier coming back to haunt him. "Hiya, Cap," he said breathlessly, "what brings you here?"

Steve just continued to stare at him before crossing the room to stand directly in front of the engineer. Tony took a step back only to have Steve take another step forward. They continued this process until Tony's back hit the counter and Steve placed his hands on either side of the genius, trapping him in and leaning in close. He stared up into those gorgeous blue eyes, held captive by the sheer beauty of them. It seemed like they stood there forever, neither willing to be the one to break the silence. Steve was the first to look away and ran a hand through his hair, then he looked back down at Tony. Yeah, down. Tony Stark is not short, okay. He is under tall, thank you very much. 

Steve cleared his throat before speaking, "We agreed we wold talk, remember?" He stared Tony dead in the eyes and Tony didn't know what to say, let alone do. He was pretty sure they were sharing air at this point. Tony just stood there, mouth agape, but his silence didn't deter the captain. He seemed to catch on to the blush though, and gave a small smile. He raised one of his large hands to cupTony's face gently. Steve was always so gentle with him. He leaned in a little closer before whispering, "Are you okay, Tony? You seen a little," he moved impossibly closer, "distracted."

Tony's throat seemed to close up. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally managing to get a strangled, "Hmmm." Steve's smile broadened. Steve seemed to be smiling around him a lot lately. Maybe Rhodey was wrong and Steve did know about his little crush.

Steve swiped his thumb across Tony's cheek, bringing him back to reality. Those ocean blue eyes were on his again. Damn, is he beautiful.

Alright, so it was more than a crush. Tony Stark is completely in love with Steve Rogers and he didn't even realize it. Some genius he is. The way Steve continued to look at him made Tony think Steve really did know, but Steve would never make fun of him would he?

Their blow up from last week had Tony questioning this and his face must have shown it because suddenly Steve was frowning and he backed up, removing his hands from either side of the counter. He looked hesitant, determined, and vulnerable all at the same time as he ran a hand through his hair again.

Shit.

Shit shit shit.

"He knows," Tony internally panicked, "he knows. He knows and he's going to try to let me down gently."

"Tony, I-"

"Hey, Tony!" It was Clint calling from the living room before he to entered the kitchen looking between the two of them but seemingly not putting it together.

Thank god for that.

"Oh, hey, Cap. I thought you went to the bathroom. Hey, Tony, where are all the snacks? Come on, man, a guy's got to eat." Clint brushed past both of them and grab all the bags of chips he could carry. "Well don't just stand there, you guys, we're going to play Clue next, and that's something I know I can win." He laughed at his own joke as he exited the kitchen. 

Cap let out a deep sigh. Along with the smiling, Steve was also sighing a lot lately, and it all seemed to revolve around Tony. That just made him feel worse because all in the same day his best friend made him realize he's in love with Steve, then Steve personally requested Tony make it to game night and then apologized for their fight and sat so close to Tony and with what just happened between them in the kitchen...

It was all too much.

Steve went to speak again. 

Then the alarms started going off.


	5. Chapter 5

Tony glanced at the alarms going off with both gratefulness and annoyance. Yes, it saved him from getting heart broken by Captain America, but it also prolonged the inevitable. Oh well...

Steve had transformed into his Captain America persona as soon as he heard the alarms going off. His voice went deep as he order his avengers to assemble, and it had Tony swallowing down his want. God, did Steve always sound so sexy? He was snapped out of his thoughts when Steve said, "Tony, put on the suit." Right. All most forgot, they have to go save the world again. Wonder what they were dealing with this time...

"Jarvis," was all the engineer had to say before his suit came flying in, opening up to allow its maker to step inside. The others were all gathered on the quinjet by the time Tony arrived, and it was no surprise they still had no idea what kind of situation they were being thrown into. Fury usually announced this on their way out. And speak of the one eyed devil... "Avengers," Fury's image popped up on the hologram, "you'll never believe who's back. Our old friend the moth."

"Oh God," Clint groaned from his seat flying the jet, "not again. I thought we handled that stupid ass bug." Fury grinned ruefully, "Well, apparently it decided Earth was a much better playground than Asgard, escaped and came the hell back. Thor, know anything about that?" The director, used his one good eye to stare Thor down. "No, Director Fury, I was assured everything would be handled."

"Well, I guess not since it's back and is currently ripping through half of Manhattan. Take care of it for real this time." He gave them all one last pissed off look before the hologram disappeared. "Oh boy," Tony thought, "a pissy pirate."

"Alright, avengers, listen up," Cap started, "We've dealt with this thing before so we have an advantage. We know its weaknesses, so, Thor, you and Iron Man strike it from above. Hawkeye, you, Widow and I will hit it from below, and, Hulk," He turned to Bruce,"Well, if we need Hulk, smash." Bruce just nodded wearily. He hated having to transform into the Hulk if he didn't have to, it always took a lot out of him and he was always afraid he would hurt someone, and Tony didn't want any of that to happen, so he'll do his best to make sure there is no need for a Code Green. That might mean deviating from Cap's orders, but Steve had told Tony if he followed his orders he would just take Tony to medical for an evaluation. Now, of course, that was probably a joke, but still. If Tony thought that he had a better way to defuse the situation with statistics to prove it but Cap didn't agree, then Tony would just do it anyways. The numbers don't lie, especially not his. He is a genius after all.

Clint landed the quinjet a block over from where the giant moth was currently shoving its head into an office building no doubt looking for food. As the avengers moved to step off the jet, Cap grabbed Tony's suit covered wrist and held him back. "Please stick to the plan, Tony, alright? I know we still haven't talked about this in depth, but I need you to listen to me." He eyes peered into the eye slits as if he could gage Tony's reaction from them. No chance. "Sure thing, Cap. I'll do my best." And that was all he said before pulling out of Steve's grasp and flying off into the sky. 

Tony felt better once he got away from the captain and could slow his heart beat down to normal again. Shit. Cap just had to go and say shit like that didn't he? Is he trying to ruin Tony's momentum?

"Okay, avengers, here we go. Moth coming up to us now. Stick to the plan." Cap's voice over the coms made Tony's stomach bubble up in anxiety, and it definitely felt like that last part of aimed directly at him. Hopefully, they can take the moth down easily, send it back to Asgard, and pray that it stay there for good this time. Tony flew to meet Thor on the top of the nearest building. "Jarvis, where can we hit this thing to take it down for real as quick as possible? We just knocked it out last time." Scans ran across the screen in front of Tony's face, "Hitting it right above the nose should do it, Sir, though it is not advisable."

"Not advisable, huh? And why's that?"

"My scans indicate that if struck above the nose enough times, the moth should become incapacitated, but after being struck there only once, the moth will become agitated and extremely aggressive."

"Well, it's already going to be mad and aggressive once we start playing with it. I say we hit as hard as we can." 

"Sir, but my scans show-"

"Mute."

Thor walked over to him, as he began to swing his hammer, "Stark, stick to the plan. The good captain will-"

"Hit it above the nose, Point Break, and we'll be out of here in no time." He used his repulsers to shoot himself up into the air and saw Clint and Natasha hitting the moth from below with their arrows and Widow bites, having absolutely no effect on the moth who showed no interest in them. Cap then hit it on the side of the face with his shield- and oh- that seemed to get its attention. The moth turned and opened its mouth to spew out a slimy green substance. Well, that was new...

Cap, Widow, and Hawkeye all had to take cover behind some rumble as the moth let out more of its weird vomit which then seemed to disintegrate whatever it was touching.

Great.

But hey, Tony's new plan was looking better and better... "Sorry, Cap," he thought to himself, "but this calls for a new plan." And Cap did say to strike it from above, so it's not like Tony is totally deviating from the original plan, he just updated it a little bit. He flew out in front of the moth and hit it above the nose with his repulsers. The moth stilled for brief moment before letting our a roar and opened it wings and came charging at Tony.

Shit. 

Tony blasted off in the Iron Man suit, while Thor flew in and struck the moth with his hammer. No effect.

Double Shit. 

"Jarvis, unmute. Okay, buddy, what do we do now?" he asked as he flew around a few buildings trying to shake the moth, but to no such avail. "Scanning now, Sir." Tony spun in his suit as he narrowly avoided being hit with the moth's green, decaying spit. "Don't mean to rush you, pal, but I'm going to need something soon."

"Iron Man," came Cap's voice over the coms. Fuck. "Where are you? We'll come to you."

"Better yet, Cap, I'll come to you." He had circled back around to lead the moth back to where the other avengers were waiting, ready to attack. "Jarvis, give me something."

"Yes, Sir, if you continue to try and hit it above the nose that will slow it down, but to ultimately defeat the moth you must rip its heart out." Rip its heart- "Are you kidding me, J?"

"No, Sir."

"Okie dokie," he said into the coms, "so we need to keep smacking it right above the nose to distract it so then we can rip its heart out. No biggie."

"Are you fucking kidding me, Stark?" That was Clint.

"And how did you figure that out?" That was Natasha.

"No. Stick to the plan, Tony. We talked about this." And that was Steve. 

The engineer sighed. "Jarvis told me, and he's never wrong. Look, we don't have a lot of time since this thing decided to show us his new party trick so we have to take care of this fast. People could get hurt."

"We could also get hurt if we don't stick to the plan." Steve Rogers was as stubborn as he was beautiful. "We'll hit it on nose from down here, but you and Thor still beat it from above."

"No, Steve!" Tony yelled into the coms, "You guys can't take it from down there because you'll just get splashed with its slime, and I really don't think getting disenigrated was on your list of things to do tonight."

Cap's heavily sigh was clear as day through the coms, dripping with disappointment, but Tony couldn't bring himself to care. Let Steve be mad at him for disobeying orders. It wouldn't be the first time and it surely won't be the last. Plus, Tony was very fond of Steve being alive, not disenigrated into a pile of ash. He loved him for Christ's sake!

"Tony-"

"You guys hit him on the schnoz, I'll rip out his heart." And damn, if that wasn't the same thing Steve was going to do to him when he finally lets Tony down about his feelings.

"No! Tony, stop! It's too dangerous!" 

"I'll be fine, Cap," he said as he flew around the backside of the moth who had settled on the ground a few hundreds yards away, watching them all with its teeth bared. "Just distract it for me so I can- Ahhh!" 

"Tony!"

Tony grit his teeth in pain as the acid from the moth's mouth burned through the left leg of his Iron Man suit. He could still fly though, so if the team would get their shit together and hit the damn thing- "Fuck!" His suit started malfunctioning, and dammit, some of the acid must have gotten in side the mainframe somehow and now..."ahhh!" Now his suit wasn't responding and Tony was falling out of the sky.

He must have hit the ground and blacked out because next thing he knew, the team, expect for Bruce, was standing over him and Steve, who was closest to him was holding his hand. That was nice... "What happened," he slurred as he tried to get up and shake the cobwebs out of his head. 

Steve gave his famous 'I'm Captain America and I'm disappointed in you sigh' and dropped Tony's hand. Tony couldn't help but feel upset at the loss of contact. "The moth hit you with its acid and you fell down. The rest of us distracted the moth by trying to hit its nose until Hulk came and smashed through its body, ripping out its heart."

Hulk? What? Tony turned and realized there was a faint roaring noise coming from down the street. Bruce...

Aww fuck, just what he wanted to avoid. 

He looked up at Steve who was frowning intensely at him. "Listen, Cap-"

"No, you listen, Stark." He started, voice cold. "I gave you an order and you deliberately disobeyed and now you're hurt." Tony finally noticed his left leg was burning from coming into contact with the acid and his suit lay around him in fragments. 

"Cap, I-"

"Save it, Stark. I don't want to hear your excuses. Get to medical." And with that he walked off, leaving Tony and the rest of the team to stare at his retreating form. 

"Great job, Stark," Clint said, "now you've really done it."


	6. Chapter 6

Tony's trip to medical had not been a fun one. While the doctors wrapped his leg and proscribed antibiotics, Fury had stormed in and chewed Tony out. Something about not following orders, being reckless, having no respect for authority, blah, blah, blah.

Tony had tuned him out a long time ago in favor of wondering where Steve was. He half expected Steve to come in the room along side Fury so they could take turns chewing Tony out. Of course Tony didn't want Steve to yell at him, but at least then the genius would be able to see him and hopefully plead his case. But Cap was no where to be found, at least not from Tony's perspective. Tony had at least hoped Steve would come in to check on him even if we was angry with Tony. Now Tony was really dreading talking to the super solider.

When the Shield medical staff finally cleared him to leave, Tony couldn't get out of there fast enough. He practically ran out of the room only to bump into a broad chest. 

Ohhh noooo....

"Hey, Tones, you okay? The team told me about what happened with the moth." Tony looked up only to come face to face with Rhodey, not Steve. Hallelujah.

"Oh," he sighed in relief, "hey old buddy, old pal, old friend," he said hurriedly looking around for any potential threats (Natasha, Barton, even Thor) "mind getting me out of here? My ride kind of got turned to ashes."

Rhodey huffed out a laugh, "Sure thing, Tones. You okay to walk? Your leg looks pretty serious." His leg? What?

Oh! Yeah, so he had bandages wrapped around his entire calf and hit hurt like hell, but nothing he couldn't deal with because, honestly, the faster he got out of here and into the safe seclusion of his lab the better. 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Let's get out of here." Rhodey gave him one last questioning look before leading Tony to the nearest exit, in a parking garage where the War Machine suit was waiting for them. As Rhodes stepped into the suit and Tony was about to get ready for lift off, a loud voice filled the air. "Stark! Don't you dare! We need to have a talk."

Shit. Barton. 

Tony turned to see Clint barreling towards the two of them, walking so fast and determined that Tony panicked for split second. "Sorry, Birdbrain, gotta run. Catch ya later." He gripped the War Machine suit tight as its arms came around to hold him in place. "Step on it, Rhodes." The suit stared down at him for few seconds before finally taking off, leaving Clint in the parking garage staring back at them, shaking his head. Tony was able to relax as they flew through the sky, getting him closer and closer to safety. "Alright, Tony, tell me what happened." Dammit. He was so close.

"Nothing happened, gummy bear. The moth thingy came back and we had to go fight it and Cap had a plan, but Jarvis informed me how to actually beat it and I was just trying to spare poor Brucey from another Code Green, so I took matters into my own hands, and ta da it worked. Kinda." The genius said all of this in one breath, trying to end the conversation as soon as possible, but of course Rhodey just couldn't let it go could he? 

Tony could hear Rhodey's sigh even though the suit. "Tony-"

"Wait! Before you say anything, it would have all been fine if Cap had just listened to me instead of being stubborn."

"Really, Tones? That's your defense?" 

"Well-"

"Tony, listen to me. I know you think you were doing the right thing, and maybe you were, but you really scared the team. Nat told me about how they all saw you fall out of the sky and how you crashed into the ground super hard. They said you weren't responding and for a second they thought you were dead. You really scared them, Tones, and you're lucky you're not hurt worse then you are."

Tony didn't know how to respond. He didn't mean to worry the team, he was just trying to help. "Jeez, Rhodey, when did you become so sentimental?" That earned him a laugh, "I've always been the Tony whisperer. You can't fool me, Tony Stark." The suit looked down at him and Tony was 99.8% sure if he was able to see Rhodey's face, he would be giving Tony a knowing grin. Sap. "So why don't you tell me what happened between you and Steve before you got the call to assemble."

Fuck. Guess he really was the Tony whisperer.

"Nothing much. He came down to the lab after you left and told me about game night. Then I went up there and he apologized for last week and then everything was fine." He voice got higher as he talked, totally giving him away.

"Uh huh. And do you want to tell me about this conversation you were having in the kitchen. Clint says had he walked in any later, he probably would have had to bleach his eye balls."

Stupid Clint.

"Uh, yeah. Merida wanted chips, so I went to get chips and then Cap was there and said he wanted to talk about something and then the alarms went off so that was that." 

"That's not the way I hear it." Tony huffed.

"And how did you hear it? What did Clint and Natasha tell you, because they're lying."

Thankfully, they were now landing on top of the tower and Rhodes let him go. "So I guess you've got it all figured out then huh?"

"Yes," Tony replied briskly as he walked to go down to his lab, where he could continue to freak out in peace. "I love him, but he doesn't like me. End of story."

"Remember when I said that it wasn't just you?" That had Tony spinning on his heel. "Yes, what did you mean by that?" Rhodey just smiled at him, "You're the genius. I know you can figure it out." And with that he blasted back off into the sky.

Tony snorted and resumed his trek to his lab. What the hell did Rhodey mean by that? Whatever. It doesn't matter. 

Tony entered his lab and requested Jarvis put it on lock down and black out the walls. "I don't want to hear any messages that come in, J, and make sure no one enters the lab."

"Yes, Sir."

The genius sighed as he looked around his work room. What a mess. The mess will have to wait though, cause Tony has to build a new Iron Man suit. Of course he has back ups, but they don't all work the same as the original. That's why their back ups. And it's not like he didn't have time to build a new suit from scratch, I mean he was going to be down here avoiding the others for a few days, so he might as well make the most of it. 

Three hours into his work binge, a sharp pain flared up his left leg. "Ahhh!" Tony winced as he doubled over in pain. "Goddammit!" Stupid leg. Stupid moth. "Jarvis, where's the antibiotic cream for my leg?" 

"It is in the kitchen, Sir. You left it there after your conversation with Colonel Rhodes." 

Great.

"Is anyone home?"

"Just Captain Rogers, Sir."

Fuck.

"And where is he right now?"

"In the gym, Sir, he is currently destroying another one of your punching bags. I believe this will make thirty-three."

"Hmm. That man goes through punching bags like Clint goes through chips. Okay, J, I'm going in. Let me know if he starts heading my way."

"Yes, Sir, I'm sure you will be most inconspicuous."

"Hahaha. You're so funny."

"I live to amuse you, Sir."

Tony quietly open the door to his lab and snuck up the stairs. So far, so good. He glanced around to make sure Cap wasn't there even though Jarvis would alert him if he was. Tony half tiptoed half ran to the kitchen and saw the cream sitting on the table. Yes! "Gotcha!"

"Hello?"

Shit. Tony froze, eyes wide.

"Anybody home?"

Shit, it was Steve. Why didn't Jarvis alert him?! Tony could hear Steve's footsteps getting closer, but couldn't pinpoint which direction they were coming from so he didn't know which way to run. Fuck!

"Okay," Tony thought in alarm, "what to do, where to hide? Aha!" There was a small opening behind the refrigerator that Clint used to hide some of snacks from Natasha. Only Clint and Tony know about it, but Clint doesn't know that Tony knows. What Tweety doesn't know won't kill him.

Tony hurried and squeezed into the tight space behind the massive fridge. "Please don't let him see me, please don't let him see me, " he chanted in his head. He heard Caps' footsteps enter the kitchen and come to a halt. "Jarvis," he heard him ask, "is there anyone else home?" Tony swore internally, "I swear to high heaven Jarvis, you better not give me away..."

"No, Captain Rogers. You are the only one on the premises."

The engineer let out a silent sigh of relief, "I love you, J."

"Right. Well when Tony gets home will you please let him know I would like to speak with him."

Shit. Tony wanted to bang his head against the back of the refrigerator. Still? He still wanted to talk to Tony? _Why_?

"I'm sorry, Captain Rogers, but Sir has already initiated a lockdown protocol. He will not be receiving any messages."

He heard Cap let out a deep, all body encompassing sigh. "Right," Steve said blandly, "then will you please let me know when the lockdown is over? That way I can just come find him myself."

"Yes, Captain Rogers, it would be my pleasure." Tony frowned up at the ceiling. Your pleasure, huh?

"Thank you, Jarvis."

"As always, it was my pleasure. Is there anything else I can help you with, Captain?"

"No," Steve sounded disappointed and sad, "no thank you, Jarvis."

"Very well then."

Tony strained his ears as he listen to Steve's retreating footsteps. Once he couldn't hear them anymore he decided it was all clear. Sliding out from behind the fridge quietly, with a quick glance around, Tony raced back to his lab. He slammed the door shut and clutched at the arc reactor. "What the hell was that, J? Why didn't you tell me he was coming?"

"I apologize, Sir. Captain Rogers left the gym and was heading in the direction of his room before he changed course and walked towards the kitchen. I would have alerted you, but then Captain Rogers would have heard and I didn't want to risk making your presence known."

Tony huffed out a laugh. "Well, thank you very much, J. Remind me to never to something like that again."

"Of course, Sir."

Tony sat down with a heavy sigh as he pealed back the bandages on his leg to reveal the nasty burn mark that covered almost the entire bottom half of his leg. Wincing, he applied the anointment to his calf, gritting his teeth as he rubbed it in. 

"Sir, Captain Rogers is inquiry about your injuries. What would you like me to tell him?" 

"Why does he want to know?'

"Perhaps because he cares, Sir. One of his teammates was injured and he would like to know to what extent."

"Tell him I'm fine. Don't tell him I was the one that said that! Just that I'm fine."

"As you wish, Sir."

Jesus, Cap really needed to lay off him awhile. What did it matter how bad Tony's leg was, it will heal. But Tony still felt his heart beat a little faster at knowing Steve at least wanted to know. He couldn't help it, he loves Steve. 

Tony yawned long and loud. Gosh, guess he was tired. Well, it has been a long, _long_, day fill with realizations, games, feelings, fighting...

Tony was tired. He rubbed a hand over his eyes and plopped down on the sofa he keep down in the lab for this very reason. He'll take a nap, and everything will be better in the morning, he thought to himself as he drifted off to sleep. Everything will be back to normal...


	7. Chapter 7

Tony woke up with a jolt. A big jolt. A jolt that caused him to fall off the couch. Ow.

The lights in his lab were flashing erratically and smoke alarms were going off, shrieking so loud Tony had to cover his ears.

"Jarvis," he yelled, "What's going on?"

The A.I. didn't respond, causing Tony to panic slightly. What was happening? Was there a fire? Tony didn't smell any smoke and if there was a fire the sprinklers would be going off. The genius looked around the lab and then at the door leading out. He sighed, "Fine, better safe than sorry." He crept out the door and glanced carefully up the stairs. Hmm, he still couldn't smell anything. Wait a second...

Was that...bacon?

He took the stairs two at a time and ran into the kitchen where the team was seated around the table eating breakfast. Bruce was cooking bacon at the stove and smiled when he saw Tony. "Alright, Jarvis, you can turn it off now." The lights and alarms went off. What?

Natasha smirked at him over her apple. "Good morning, Tony. Sleep well?" Tony sat down at the table giving the team strange looks. "Um, I guess so. Did you make Jarvis pretend there was a fire in order to get me out of the lab?"

She ignored him,"Good, then you have no excuse to run away from this conversation." Shit. "Uhh, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do," Clint chimed in, sliding him a plate, "and it's about time you realized you love Steve."

Steve! Tony ran his eyes over the room scanning for the soldier. "Relax, Stark, he's not here, he's at Shield helping Fury with some new recruits." The genius visibly sighed with relief.

Tony eyed balled the rest of the team who sat, innocently eating their breakfast. "What is this? An intervention?"

"Something like that," Natasha said finishing her apple, "we were beginning to worry you weren't going to figure it out."

"What?"

Clint rolled his eyes and shoved another round of eggs into his mouth, "That you love Steve, dumbass." Tony threw an orange at him, which he caught. "Dickhead," Tony mumbled when the archer only grinned cockily at him. 

"We're really happy for you, Tones," Bruce brought the finished bacon over and laid some on Tony's empty plate. "You two are great for each other." Tony looked at him blankly.

"So you all know? Rhodey said you all knew, but I didn't believe him."

Thor's booming laughter filled the kitchen. "Yes, brother Stark, we are very aware of your lusting after our good captain."

"I do not lust!" Tony shouted indigently, trying to defend himself, "I'm pining over him, there is a big difference."

Natasha had mercy on him and patted him on the shoulder, "Yes, Tony, we've known for a long time. The only ones who didn't know were you and Steve." Tony spit out the orange juice he at just taken a sip of and spewed it all over Clint. "Eww! Tony!"

Tony coughed, still chocking on the juice, his voice hoarse he asked."He knows?!"

"No, he doesn't know," Nat replied, "not yet." She leaned closer and gave him one of her deadly expressions. "You're going to tell him."

"No-" Tony was cut off by a knife flying past his head, driving Natasha's forgotten apple core into the wall. "Okay," he squeaked, "I'll tell him. But just so you know, he's going to let me down. Gently, I'm sure, or maybe he'll punch me so hard I go through a wall. Guess we'll find out." 

The team all looked at him with exasperation. What? "For a genius you really are stupid." 

"Shut up, Clint."

"He's not going to react that way, Tony. His reaction may even surprise you." Bruce's gentle voice and kind smile filled Tony with a little smidgen of hope. Maybe he won't get beaten to a pulp, he'll just have his heart shattered into a million little pieces. Oh yes, this was going to be a great conversation.

"Well," Tony said standing up from the table, bacon untouched, "I'm going back down to my lab where I can prepare myself for the inevitable. Cap's going to come looking for me anyways since I'm not on lockdown anymore," He glared at the ceiling, "wonder how that happened." 

"You're going to be fine, you loser." Natasha hit him on the back of the head. "Stop being so dramatic."

"Alright, I'm leaving. Don't follow me." He exited the kitchen and practically ran down the stairs. "J, I'm going to die."

"I cannot detect anything wrong with you at the moment, Sir." The A.I.'s creator scowled, "You know what I mean. Just make yourself useful and tell me when 'He who shall not be named' is on his way." 

"Yes, Sir. Captain Rogers is making his way to the lab now."

"What?!" Tony spun on his heel, eyes wide, and heart pounding. He's not ready yet...

But there he was...in all of his Captain America glory, suit and all, descending the stairs, looking as righteous as ever, was Steve. His hair perfect, his super sexy suit, his eyes staring into Tony's soul when they made eye contact... "Hi, S-Steve."

The captain entered the lab and looked at him, his face unreadable. "Tony. How's your leg?" Of course he would ask that first. "It's getting better, doesn't hurt to much." He tried to give Steve a smile, but it ended up as more of a grimace. 

Cap cleared his throat, "That's good, I was worried about you." And ugh, why did he have to go and say things like that right before he's going to crush Tony's dreams. "I've been wanting to talk to you, Tony." And so it begins...

"Yeah...I know. Lay it on me, Cap." Tony said sourly as he refused to meet Steve's gaze. 

Steve breathed in a deep sigh, "You scared me, Tony, you really fucking scared me," and okay. Tony wasn't expecting to hear that. Steve hardly ever cussed. He glanced up at Steve from his position at the end of the workstation where he had parked himself. The blond's face was hard and unyielding. "I was so worried about you, and dammit, Tony, why can't you just follow orders?"

The genius licked his lips angrily and crossed his arms in lieu of response, so this was how it was starting out. Splendid. "I thought you were dead. For a split second, I honestly thought I had lost you. Do you know what that was like, Tony?" Steve was breathing heavily now and his fists were clenched. 

"I don't wan to fight with you, Tony, I really don't, but honestly sometimes you drive me up the walls. I-I-" he cut himself off there. Tony took the opportunity to insert himself into the conversation. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, "I'm didn't mean to worry you. I'm sorry I disobeyed orders. I was just trying to help."

Steve gave a small laugh and gave him a sort of half smile. "I know, Tony, I know." He sighed again and crossed the room to stand in front of Tony. He leaned in close and uncrossed Tony's arms before moving his own muscled arms on either side of the genius, trapping him between Steve and the table. Tony swallowed the lump in his throat. This was oddly familiar...

Steve looked up at his through his lashes, and it was completely unfair. "There's something else I've been meaning to talk to you about." Tony blushed deeply, but held Steve's gaze. "I know." The soldier smiled at him, "I have a feeling you don't know what I'm about to say to you."

Tony frowned, of course he knew what Steve was going to say. "I know exactly what you're going to say," the engineer snapped, "so just let me down gently and we can forget this ever happened."

Steve pulled back slightly, giving the genius an incredulous look, "What are you talking about?" Tony huffed, annoyed this conversation was lasting longer than he was willing to deal with. "You know I'm in love with you, but you don't feel the same, and that's fine, but I would really appreciate if you would just get on with it, so I can go drown my sorrows in chocolate milk." 

Steve pulled away from him completely, eyes wide, seeming stunned. "You love me?" Tony moved to the others side of the room, unsure of where this was going. "Yes," he said hesitantly, "I thought you knew that." Steve continued to look shell shocked, "No," he said breathlessly, "I didn't know you felt that way. I-I-" he ran a hand through his golden hair, "Tony-"

But Tony didn't want to prolong this any longer. "It's fine, Cap, I get it. No hard feelings. You don't have to stay or say anything. Actually, it might be better if you just leave." He gestured to the door with his free hand as he got up and turned his back to open his mini fridge. He fished out the chocolate syrup and the small carton of milk. If he couldn't drown his sorrows in booze then he could drown them in the next best thing: chocolate milk. 

"No, Tony-" Steve moved forward, arms out stretched and placed his hands on either of Tony arms, "I didn't know. God, I wished, I thought maybe, sometimes, but I never knew for sure." He smiled down at Tony, "I love you too."

"What?"

What?

"What!"

"I love you, Tony."

Tony couldn't believe this was happening, "You do?" he asked in disbelief, "Are you just saying that because Nat said something or because-"

"Tony, I really do love you, " the soldier's smile grew, "I love you."

"Oh." Tony didn't know what to do. He hadn't been expecting this. "I- that's good." Steve laughed and pulled him into a hug. "This is nice," Tony thought to himself as he wrapped his arms around the blond, "he loves me." 

Steve pulled back from the hug, but kept his arms around Tony, holding him close, "I know we don't get along sometimes, Tony, but somehow I found myself falling for you. I'm sorry you thought I didn't love you," He leaned his forehead against Tony's,"because I do. I absolutely do."

The genius felt a smile cross his face, "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Tony felt giddy. He never expected this to happen. "Wanna go on a date later?"

"No."

"Okay, great, so we'll go to-" Wait. "No?"

"No."

Tony's brow creased in confusion. "What do you mean no?" Steve gave him an apologetic look, "We can't, Tony."

"What does that mean?" Steve let out a heavy sigh, "We can't be together, Tony."

"And why not!" Steve left Tony's embrace and sat on the couch, facial expression hard. "It would never work, Tony, you and me."

"But you just told me-" 

"I know what I said. That was supposed to be the end of it, I didn't know you reciprocated my feelings. I just wanted to let you know because I felt it would just be easier if you were aware."

Tony was seething, "So that's it then? I tell you I love you and then you say it back to me, but 'sorry, that's as far as it can go! Sorry for any inconvenience'!" 

"Tony-" but the genius wasn't having it, "Get out."

"Tony, listen to me, we clash, we fight, sometimes we can't even stand each other, it would be a disaster. Please just try to understand where I'm-"

"Try to understand? Try to understand?" He was shouting now, "Try to understand this, Rogers. Get the fuck out!" Cap frowned at him, "Language. Tony please-"

"Language? Fuck language!" The genius was so angry. So livid he was shaking. "Get the fuck out. Just leave! _Fucking_ leave!"

Steve stood, face unsure, and mouth opening and closing as he tried to figure what to say. Nothing. he couldn't say anything to make this better right now. He needed to _get out_. Cap walked towards the door slowly, glancing back at Tony all the while. When he reached the door to go up stairs, he turned to face Tony fully, "Tony," he said quietly, almost pleading, "please- I'm sorry. I just-" Tony slammed the door in his face and locked it. "Jarvis, lockdown, blackout." The see through walls went black and Tony finally let the tears begin to fall. 

Shit.

He hadn't been expecting that. He never expected Steve to return his feelings, but for Steve to return his feelings _and then_ break his heart? Damn. That's some messed up shit. Tony wiped away his tears. For a moment he had even thought Steve might kiss him... Tony scoffed, yeah, fat chance.

Steve loved him, but wanted nothing to do with him. Honestly, what the fuck? Who does that? Apparently Steve. 

Whatever. Tony stirred in a heaping amount of chocolate syrup into his glass of milk. "Fuck my life. Why does this shit always happen to me, Jarvis?" The A.I., though incapable of emotions, sounded sad when he responded, "I am sorry, Sir. Is there anything I can get for you?"

Tony sighed. Fuck. Sighing made him think of Steve. Fucking Steve. Stupid fucking Steve. "No, no thanks, J. I'm just gonna sit here awhile and drown my sorrows in chocolate milk."

"Yes, Sir. Please know I am always available." Tony snorted out a soft laugh, "Yeah, I know. Thanks, buddy."

"It is my pleasure, Sir."

Tony sat on the couch drinking his beverage. He felt so unbelievably foolish and heartbroken at the same time. He would just have to avoid Steve, that way he can get over him and won't have to deal with Steve's kicked puppy look every time the soldier looked in Tony's direction. It was for the best. 

"I am sorry, Sir, but Ms. Romanoff is requesting entrance to the lab."

"Tell her I'll be up after a while. I need some time to myself right now."

"Very well, Sir."

He'll have to tell them, the team. Tell them they were right _and_ wrong. Oh goodie, another fun conversation for Tony. He wasn't going to do that now though, he was going to release some tension first. "J, play some heavy metal, won't you?"

"Yes, Sir." Tony never did finish re-making the Iron Man suit, that will help take his mind off things. "Play it as loud as possible without me going deaf." He picked up a sledge hammer. 

Gotta start somewhere...


	8. Chapter 8

Loud music pulsed throughout Tony's lab as the engineer kneeled on the ground welding together pieces of the Iron Man suit. He had already finished one leg and was completing the other when Jarvis cut the music, "I'm sorry, Sir, but Dr. Banner is requesting entrance."

Tony turned off the blow torch and lifted his googles to rest on his forehead. "What does he want, J?"

"He is worried about you. He said you were supposed to come up a while ago." Oh yeah. "What time is it?"

"It is 8:36 in the evening, Sir. You have been down here for approximately eleven hours and thirteen minutes." Tony's eyes widened, "Oh. Oops." The genius rose to his feet and pulled of his safety gloves before wiping his hands with a wet rag. "Alright, J, let him in."

Bruce stumbled backwards and then forwards as Jarvis lifted the blackout and unlocked the door. "Tony, you okay? You'v been down here for a long time." Tony glanced at him over his glass of chocolate milk. "I'm fine, Bruce. No worries, just working on a project." The doctor gave him a suspicious look, "Okay, well Nat was wanting to talk to you earlier, you know, about what happened." Tony's expression went dark. "Do you know what happened?"

Bruce shook his head hurriedly, "No, none of us do. We saw Steve, but he didn't speak to us. He looked pretty upset." Well he should be upset!" Tony wanted to yell, but refrained and instead said, "Let's go upstairs. I'll explain to everyone what happened."

He trudged up the stairs with Bruce already dreading having to voice a repeat of what happened with Cap. He cracked his neck on the way up, wincing as his joints popped. Everyone was seated in the living room when they arrived, well, everyone meaning Clint and Thor. Tony didn't know where Natasha was and he didn't want to know were Cap was. Both Clint and Thor gave him hesitant smiles, and Tony did his best to return them. He plopped down on the couch and it was silent until he asked, "Where's Nat."

"Don't know," Clint relied, shrugging, "She muttered something in Russian a few minutes ago and got up and left. She looked pretty pissed when Steve walked passed this morning." He gave Tony a sheepish smile that was more of a grimace, "Guess it didn't all go to plan then."

"Well it certainly didn't go to Cap's plan, but then again it seems like things never do!" Tony voice was biting and unforgiving. "You what to know what happened? Oh, I'll tell you what happened. I told him I love him. Yep! I told him, and you know what he said?" He looked around the room at the others who all sat wide eyed and unmoving, "He said, 'Oh! I love you too, Tony! I love you!' but do you know what he said after? Guess." His arms were waving wildly and he was breathing heavy, but he didn't care, he was fucking angry. Neither of the other three said anything so Tony continued on. "He said 'we can't be together, Tony. It just won't work. Try to understand, Tony. Try to understand that I only told you to make it easier'."

Tony jumped up from the couch and made his way into the kitchen where he poured himself a glass of pre-made chocolate milk. "Easier for who?!" he yelled from the kitchen. "Easier for me? Well thank you very much, how considerate of you! Easier for yourself? Yes, I think so. Tell the man you love him only to break his heart. What a wonderful, _wonderful _plan, Cap!" He took a swig of his milk and ended up gulping it all down in one go. He slammed the glass down on the counter and turned to look at the three men still seated in the living room. They stared back at him. 

Wow. He didn't know he had that in him, guess he hadn't let out of his anger when pounding out metal for his suit. Clint was the first one to speak, "Geez, Tones, I'm sorry. We had no idea." Clint looked sad, Tony noted, Clint never looked sad. "Don't feel bad, Barton, I'll get over it. I won't talk to Captain Asshat and he better not talk to me."

Bruce was the next one to step in, "Tony, don't say that, I know you're angry right now, but I really think you need to talk to Steve." Tony gave him a seething look, but Bruce soldiered on, "Let him explain himself. You know Cap always thinks things through before doing them, and he probably thought he was doing the right thing." Damn, Bruce always being the voice of reason. 

"Yeah, alright," he grumbled unhappily, "fine, but if he says something stupid again I'm gonna lose it." he winced as he went to take a step forward. "Ah. Damn leg." Bruce can over to him then, concerned. "How is your leg, Tony? Is it still bothering you?" 

The engineer sighed, "No, I mean it's fine, just hurts a little. I need to put some more antibiotic cream on it." Bruce nodded in agreement, "Yeah, you need to take care of yourself, Tones."

Tony sighed again as he walked away from the others. Talk to Steve, oh boy! Can you feel his enthusiasm? He didn't want to talk to fucking Steve! The asshole. Stupid Bruce making him do this. Not really making him, but strongly suggesting, which is Bruce talk for 'just do it Tony'. Fuck. This is gonna suck. 

"Jarvis," he said miserably, "Where's Rogers sorry ass?" Was that being mean? Tony felt he was being poetic.

"He is in the gym, Sir, Ms. Romanoff is there as well."

"Nat?" So that's where she was while Tony poured his heart out and dumped all of his emotions on the guys. What was she doing there? Wiping the floor with Capsicle 's ass, Tony hoped. 

Begrudgingly, Tony sulked towards the gym. "Let's get this over with then." As he neared the gym he could hear the sound of a body hitting the mats on the floor. Hmm, maybe his dream was coming true. He peeked into the gym and saw Nat holding Cap face down on the mat, with an arm twisted behind his back and his face being mashed into the ground. Tony couldn't help but snicker in delight. Dreams do come true. 

"Okay, okay, give," Tony heard Steve mumble from his position on the floor, "Let up, Nat." Natasha didn't look happy though, if her pursed lips and dangerous expression were anything to go by. She twisted Steve's arms further behind his back. "Ah!" 

"You're an absolute idiot, you know that?" She asked him, twisting his hair into her fingers before pulling and yanking Steve's head backwards. "You're an absolute moron." 

"Ah-ah, Nat, okay!" Steve struggled to get her off of him. Tony knew if Steve really wanted to remove her he could. And Steve knew that. So did Natasha. Yet, there he stayed pinned under her which could mean only one thing: he knew he deserved it. "Good," Tony thought, "let him suffer." 

Steve fought under the Russian futilely, but she wasn't letting him go anywhere, not until she was done. Tony knew from experience. Never eat Natasha's strawberry waffles. 

"What the hell were you thinking telling him that? Why would you tell him you love him only to break his heart not a minute later?" The red head flicked one of her legs out to tangle with one of Cap's and pulled it away from his body painfully and kept it at a weird angle. Roger's face creased in pain and it was clear he was uncomfortable. "I told you," he strained to get out, "that's what I was going to tell him anyways, regardless of whether he felt the same way or not, which I didn't know he did." Nat's facial expression didn't change as she calmly stretched Steve's limbs even further. "Nat, seriously, come on."

"I am being serious. You're a blockhead. You seriously thought telling Tony you loved him was going to make things better?'

Cap, clearly distressed, still didn't buck her off of him, "It's better if he knows now rather than finding out at some other inopportune time by someone else. I didn't even know you guys knew I liked him."

Natasha sighed, visibly frustrated with the soldier. "We've known forever and a day, you're not exactly subtle." Steve's face turned red but Tony couldn't tell if it was from the strain or if he was blushing. Not that Tony cares, because he doesn't. No, he doesn't. Nope. 

He felt a blush heat up on his own cheeks. Okay, maybe he does...but not that much! Just a little because it's about him. 

The genius continued to listen in and watch the scuffle between the super soldier and the spy. The spy is totally winning by the way. Spy: 1, Super Ass: 0. 

Natasha let go of Steve's hair in favor of pushing his face back down into the mat, "You need to get your head out of your ass. Get your shit straight, Steve, I'm serious. You must have crushed Tony. Did you know we were the ones that encouraged him to tell you?" Tony's eyebrows shot up, "I wouldn't exactly say 'encouraged'. More like threatened." he muttered to himself. 

Steve stuttered from his place on the ground, "I-I didn't know, Nat, honest." The Russian went on, "And what do you do, you stupid fool, you tell him you love him too and make him hopeful. Then you rip his heart out and shed it into a million little pieces, you fucking asshole." She finished her sentence with gritted teeth, driving Cap's face even harder into the mat. 

"Ah-ugh, Nat, can't breathe-" "And how the hell do you think Tony feels?" Nat got off of him only to shove him back down when went moved to get up. She gave the blond another withering look, "Get your act together and fix this." Steve gulped, still seated on his ass "I will, Nat, I will. I just-"

"Don't feed me any of your worthless excuses. I don't have time for your shit, Steve, I really don't. This is absolutely ridiculous. You're a grown ass man who's acting like a spoiled child. Apologize. Make sure he gets it." She held out a hand, which Cap hesitantly took and she helped him up. Then she made eye contact with Tony.

Shit. Fucking shitty shit. 

Tony turned to run away. "Get your ass back here, Stark." he cringed. Fuck. He spun on his heel to see Natasha standing with hands on her hips, looking extremely unimpressed and Steve who was staring at the ground. He slowly made his way into the gym and stood a good distance away from the other two. 

The woman looked between the two men standing in front of her and sighed in annoyance, "Men." She muttered under her breath. She fixed the two of them was a deadly expression and said in a chilly voice, "You two are going to talk and you two are going to fix this." She made her way to the door and began closing it, "Make up and make out. You're not leaving until that happens." She slammed the door closed. 

Tony stood frozen in his spot, gaping at the door. Steve was in a similar position. "Did she just-"

"Yep." Well, look at that, they're already talking. That in and of itself was an accomplishment. 

Steve finally looked up at him, kicked puppy face and all. "Tony-"

"Don't."

"But you heard, Nat."

"Yeah, I heard her. Doesn't mean I want to hear you though." Steve frowned at him sadly. Shit. He didn't want to make Steve sad, I mean he totally did, but not really. It didn't have the effect he thought it would. He thought if Steve felt bad too, it would make him feel better. It actually made him feel worse. Fuck.

"I want to talk, Tony, but you're going to have to let me." Steve hadn't moved from his spot, but definitely looked as if he wanted to. "Fine," Tony replied, crossing his arms, he had to do this sometime and apparently he wasn't allowed out until he did, "but stay over there and don't say anything stupid that will piss me off."

Steve actually laughed a little at that and it gave Tony hope this conversation wasn't going to be a total disaster. "Do you want to sit down?"

Tony looked around the gym, "Where? On the mat?" Steve blushed lightly and for some strange reason Tony decided to have mercy on him. "Yeah, let's sit down." He bent down to brace himself as he plopped his butt on the mat and Steve followed suit not to far away. 

Cap didn't seemed to inclined to say anything yet, so Tony initiated their oh-so-fun chat. "It's fine, you know, I get it." Steve looked up at him in bewilderment, "You do?" he asked skeptically, "You really think so?" Tony pursed his lips at him, "Yes, it seems that I just so happen to think so." Steve sighed and his eyes dropped to the floor, "I don't want to fight, Tony. Please, I want to explain."

Tony wet his lips angrily. "Fine. Explain."

Cap raised his eyes to meet Tony's, "Promise you'll listen?"

"Yes."

"Alright. I should probably start from the beginning."

Tony rolled his eyes, "That might be helpful, yes." Steve gave him a tired look to shut him up. Whatever.

"Are you ready to listen?" Tony huffed, this was getting ridiculous, "Yes, Steve, just starting talking already."

"Okay," Steve took a deep breath, "It all started when-"


	9. Chapter 9

Tony's eyes danced around the room looking for an escape. He couldn't believe he was doing this. Talking to Steve, letting the jerk explain himself. Stupid Natasha for making him do this.

"It all started after we defeated Loki," Steve began and regained Tony's attention, "you and I fought constantly but I couldn't stop thinking about you." He gave Tony a shy smile. "At first all did you did was make me angry, but somewhere, somehow, I started to realize I couldn't stop thinking about you because I liked you." Tony made sure he face remained neutral. "I tried to stop," Steve ran a hand through his hair, "I mean not because I didn't want to like you, but because I knew this would never work."

Tony huffed and rolled his eyes, here they go with this again. "Steve-" Cap waved a hand, "No, no, Tony, please let me finish." He gave Tony an imploring look and the genius sighed heavily, "Alright, go on."

The blond smiled gratefully, "I never really thought you would feel the same way, Tony, honestly I didn't, but I hoped, especially with the way you acted around me sometimes. I few times I thought you knew and was just messing with me, but you have to know I never wanted to hurt you. I want to make sure you believe that." He took a glance at Tony's face to try to gauge his reaction, but Tony kept his face blank.

Steve continued, "It won't work between us because sometimes we don't get along, and our fights are terrible sometimes, Tony, they're so bad that we can't stand to talk to each other for a few days." The other man couldn't help but bring up their last fight when Steve didn't talk to him, "You mean like with the moth the first time."

Cap ducked his head, looking ashamed, "I'm sorry about that. It's just that when you don't follow orders and you go off on your own- it worries me. You could get hurt." Tony swallowed and averted his eyes away from Cap's. "It irritates me when you do that, Tony, and that's why I get upset with you. We can't be in a relationship because it would definitely interfere with our work lives and work would interfere with our relationship in our personal lives." 

"That's stupid."

Steve fixed the brunet with an exasperated look, "Tony, come on. What happened with the moth was a perfect example of that. I don't want to do anything to jeopardize our current relationship."

Tony gaped at him, "Really? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Steve, you told me you love me, how does that not jeopardize out relationship." Steve blushed so deeply it ran down his neck, "I-I didn't know you felt the same way. Even if you didn't, I was going to tell you to make it easier."

Tony shot him a confused look and crossed his arms, it seemed like they were getting nowhere, "How does telling me that make things easier?"

The soldier sighed heavily, "I thought it would be better if you knew and heard it from me, rather than finding out randomly, freaking out and hating me. It was just best to put it out there instead of waiting and endangering the team synergy."

Tony wasn't sure what he was hearing, "Why would I hate you?"

Steve wouldn't make eye contact with him, "Because you deserve better, Tony. You're so amazing and deserve so much better than me. I tried to keep away from you, but I kept finding myself drawn to you. I'm sorry if I ever made you uncomfortable, but I really am glad you love me back." He smiled sadly.

Tony was half pissed and half overjoyed. Steve is an idiot, that much is clear, and Tony was done wasting time, he knew what he wanted. "You think you're not good enough for me?" he asked as he moved to his knees and inched over to Steve. "You think we couldn't make a relationship work?" Steve's eyes widened and he began to lean back, but didn't move from his current spot on the floor mat, "Uhh, Tony-"

Tony's brown eyes were fixated on surprised blue as he slowly crawled closer, "You thought it would be easier to tell me you love me and then make yourself suffer." He placed his hands on either side of Steve in a reminiscent way that had been done to him. Steve continued to lean back until his back hit the floor and he was lying flat on the ground with Tony leaning over him. Tony's nose brushed Steve's, "You're a dork. I love you and we're going to be together whether you like it or not."

Then he pressed their lips together in a short, sweet kiss. He pulled away, slightly afraid he was about to be punched when Steve grabbed him by the back of the neck and hauled him in for another kiss, this one longer and with more heat. Their tongues danced with each others and Tony fully relaxed onto Steve's body, he groaned when the soldier broke the kiss and began to mouth at his neck, "I love you," he gasped out, "I love you, Steve. Please. We can make it work-"

Tony let out a huff as Steve rolled them over so he was on top and Tony was now beneath him. Steve looked down at him, eyes filled with desire, "I love you, Tony. I don't know if we can make this work, but I want to, I really really want to." He connected their lips, taking them back far to quickly for Tony's liking. Steve started talking again, "Do you want this, Tony, I mean really? I don't want you to feel like you have to do this-" 

The genius took Steve's face into his hands, "Yes. I want this. I want it so much. So less talking, more kissing." Steve laughed and it my Tony's heart flutter. They kissed again, but this time their tongues battled for dominance and there were and hands and legs everywhere. 

"Ewwww!"

The pair pulled apart. What in the world?

They turned to see the rest of the team standing in the doorway leading out of the gym. Clint was the one who had ruined the moment and was making puking noises. Nat hit him on the back of the head, smiling at the two men currently wrapped around each other, while Bruce and Thor were both cat calling and clapping. 

Tony grinned and saw that Steve was blushing, oh he's going to have so much fun with that blush. He yanked the bigger man down into another deep kiss and rolled them over again so he was back on top, earning himself a surprised laugh from the blond under him. 

"Okay! That's enough now. We're all very happy two are finally together, but at least get a room." Tony broke the kiss and glared at Clint. "If you don't like it then leave."

"Or you two could get a room and spare the rest of us from having to bleach our eyes and the mats." Clint sassed back. Tony went to reply again, but yelping as Steve lifted him up off the ground and began to carry him away in a fireman's carry with his hand firmly on Tony's butt. "Oh god," Clint moaned, "that's not what I meant, but whatever. Don't let us hear you!" Tony stuck his tongue out at him. 

Steve carried him all the way to Tony's room and deposited him on the bed before before climbing over Tony and trapping him in. They kissed lazily for a few minutes, having no need to rush. Steve was the first to pull away, but only in favor of kissing Tony everywhere he could reach: on his forehead, his nose, his eyelids, his hands, his neck. The genius sighed contently and let Steve have free range of his body, as he carded a gentle hand through Steve's own golden locks. 

"I love you," Tony said confidently, "I love you, and we're going to make it work okay?" Steve mushed his face into Tony's neck and nuzzled him causing the engineer to giggle. "Yeah, we'll make it work, Tones, I promise. I'll do whatever it takes. I love you so much." They kissed again and again and again until their lips got sore. Steve tugged Tony up towards the pillows and arranged the two of them into a comfortable cuddle with Tony's head on Steve's chest. 

"I'm sorry, Tony, for hurting you. I'm so sorry." Tony shushed him, "It's alright, everything is perfect now."

"When did you realize," Steve asked, "that you loved me?" Tony chuckled and rubbed the soldiers stomach, "Rhodey told me. Said I was pining over you so hard he thought I would turn into a forest. Apparently I was having trouble realizing it for myself. Everyone knew but me and you." He kissed Steve's jaw, "guess that's why we're perfect for each other: we're both super oblivious." Steve's chest rumbled in amusement and he kissed Tony's hair, "The Pining Forest of Tony Stark." he said and Tony slapped his chest.

It was Tony's turn to ask a question, "How did Natasha find out what happened?" Steve grunted, "She confronted me in the gym. Walked right in, slapped me, and demanded to know what happened. I told her and then she had me on the ground before I could even explain myself." Tony snickered, "You, Captain America, got you're ass kicked by a girl. Ah!"

Steve tickled him mercilessly, digging his fingers into Tony's body. "N-n-n-oooo! St-Stev-eve! Ahahahaha!" Tony thrashed under the super soldier. Steve smirked at him slyly, "Give?" Tony's body gave another spasm. "Y-y-yesss! G-give!" Steve stopped and let the man under him catch his breath before kissing Tony within an inch of his life. "I love you, Tony." He said sweetly, gazing at Tony as if he was the most precious thing in the world. 

"I love you too, babe." He leaned in closer to whisper in the blond's ear, "What do you think Clint meant when he said don't let them hear?"

Steve turned red, but the lust in his eyes was clear, "I don't know, maybe we should find out." He tugged his shirt off and threw it in the corner. "Oh, wow. Hello, abs." Tony had no shame while he ogled Steve's toned stomach. His breath hitched when Steve moved to help him out of his own shirt and ran his hands down the genius's back. 

"Jarvis," he croaked out as Steve pressed gentle kisses down his chest, "lockdown for 24 hours." Steve shifted up and licked the shell of Tony's ear before blowing in it, making the brunet shiver in anticipation. "Make it 48."

"Yes, Sir."

They both shucked off their pants, getting under the covers, kissing and panting into each other's mouths. "I love you, Tony, so much, god, so much."

Tony leaned their foreheads together, "Show me." 


	10. Chapter 10

"Seriously! You guys, that's so gross!" Clint covered his eyes as he walked into the kitchen where Tony and Steve were making out. Tony was seated up on the counter and had his legs wrapped around Steve's waist, arms embracing each other and lips firmly locked. 

"Ow!" Tony broke the kiss and laughed as Clint rubbed the sore spot on his leg where he had run into the table. "Look what you made me do!" 

"Oh, you're fine, you big baby." Tony leaned his head against Steve's and snuggled into him, "Maybe you should watch where you're going." Clint glared at him, "I would be able to if I didn't have to worry about walking in on something I didn't want to see. Like right now, I mean seriously, you guys have been together for five months. Hasn't the honeymoon phase worn off yet?"

Steve giggled into Tony's neck, tickling the brunet. Tony's squealing laughter had Clint throwing his hands up in the air and giving Natasha and Bruce an imploring look. "Nat, Bruce, do something!" Bruce smiled over his coffee mug and Natasha smirked while she ate her strawberry waffles. "At least get them off the counter! People eat there! I don't want Stark's ass all over my oatmeal." He ended with a flourish with his hands on his hips. "Come on, guys."

Bruce chuckled at Clint's antics, "They're in love, Clint, they can't help it." They looked over to where Steve and Tony were kissing again, with Steve groping Tony's ass."Well can't you at least get them off the counter? If not for me, then for the sake of sanitation. I'm going to have to sterilize the whole kitchen at this rate." 

"Oh, all right," Bruce gave in, "Come on, lovebirds, off the counter." They didn't even break their kiss. Steve gathered Tony in his arms and crossed the kitchen to settle in one of the chairs at the table. Steve sat in the chair, arms wrapped around Tony as Tony sat in his lap, straddling him and one of Tony's hands clutching at Steve's blond hair. One of them moaned.

"Oh my god," Clint wailed miserably, "it's never going to end!" 

Natasha rolled her eyes, "It would be worse if they were still pining over each other."

"I don't think it would. At least they wouldn't be making out all the time. It's 9 o'clock in the morning!" Bruce chimed in, "They've started earlier." Clint slammed his head down on the table. Steve and Tony stopped kissing and were both taking a drink, Steve was drinking orange juice and Tony chocolate milk. Clint sighed in relief and got up to pour himself a cup of coffee and fix himself a plate of breakfast.

"Mmm-mmm-mmm." He placed eggs, hash browns, pancakes, and bacon on his plate. He snuck a peak at the boyfriends who were thankfully not kissing. Now they were gazing into each others eyes, completely oblivious to the world around them. Gross. The archer meandered back to the table and hesitantly sat down next to Natasha. She gave him an unsympathetic look and rolled her eyes once again, "They're not going to attack you," she said stealing a piece of his bacon. 

Clint squawked, "Give that back!" But Natasha had already shoved it in her mouth, and winked at him. Clint huffed at her and got up to eat standing up. "Hey, Clint," Clint closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath, what did Tony want? "Yeah, Tony?"

The brunet smiled at him from his position on Steve's lap, "Could you make Steve and I a plate of food? We're starving." Steve nuzzled him with his nose, "Don't forget to say please." Tony let out a giggle, "Please, Clint. With whip cream on top. Oh, babe, think of what we could do with whip cream in the bedroom-"

"Alright!" Clint yelled shoving his own plate of food in front of them, "Just take that one and shut up. I don't to hear about that when I'm trying to eat my breakfast." He crinkled his brow, "Actually, I don't want to hear about that ever."

"You're just jealous," Tony said cutting up a pancake, "Can't stand the fact that we're in love and you're going to end up a lonely spinster."

"Whatever," Clint grumbled, "Just keep it PG while I'm eating." He went back to the counter and fixed himself another plate, this time with even more food. He turned around to head back to the table. 

Crash! 

Clint dropped his plate of food as he stared at Steve and Tony feeding each other. Steve fed Tony a piece of bacon while Tony fed Steve pieces of pancake. They didn't even seem to have heard the commotion, too absorbed in each other. Natasha and Bruce laughed at the astonished look on his face. Clint couldn't believe this. Of all the things... "I'm going to go rinse my eyes out in hopes of burning this imagine out of my brain. Wish me luck." He sulked towards the bathroom. 

"They've managed to ruin breakfast. Breakfast! They can't keep their hands off each other." He sighed, "But at least their happy. You know, Jarvis," He said to the ceiling, "I don't know which is worse, when they both couldn't get their heads out of their asses or the lovely dove shit they pull all the time now."

"I concur, Master Barton, it is most peculiar." Clint snorted and flicked on the water at the bathroom sink. He washed his face and rinsed his eyes. Hmm, nope, image is still there. He shook his head and made his way back into the kitchen where, hopefully, he'll be able to get some food and eat it this time. 

Tony had moved to a more sensible spot in a chair of his own, even it was pressed right up next to Steve and they were smiling and whispering softly to each other. 

"Whatever," Clint thought, "beggars can't be choosers." He made his way over to the counter to make yet another plate of food. Food... which was..."Where did all the food go?"

He looked around the room and realized that Thor had joined them and he had five empty plates that had been piled with food. All the food. There was none left.

"Aww! No! Breakfast!"

Laughter filled the kitchen. 

"Home sweet home," Tony thought as he kissed Steve again, "Home sweet home."


End file.
